Curtain walling and the Construction Products …

1 1/5 Curtain walling and the Construction Products regulations October 2011 This paper describes the current position on the Construction Products Regulation as it will apply to Curtain walling in the UK. The Construction Products Regulation will apply to all Curtain walling ranging from the largest bespoke projects to a simple screen on a stair well. The Construction Products Regulation will have an impact on: Specialist contractors System suppliers Component suppliers Architects and main contractors need to be aware of the changes inherent in the Construction Products Regulation.

2 Construction Products Regulation The European Commission Construction Products Directive has been in existence since 1988. It entered into UK law as the Construction Products regulations UK 1991 but the UK and Eire opted out of parts of the directive. While CE marking of Construction Products has been mandatory in most countries of the EU it has not been required in the UK. The Construction Products Directive has become the Construction Products Regulation which was passed by the European Commission and published in the Official Journal on 4 April 2011 and it takes full effect in 2013.

3 There is no possibility for countries to opt out of the Construction Products Regulation and CE marking will be required in the UK from 1 July 2013. Curtain walling is a Construction product and is covered by the harmonised European Standard EN 13830, as a result CE marking will apply to all Curtain walling from 1 July 2013. CE Marking The CE mark may be applied to any Construction product for which there is a harmonised product Standard (hEN) or a European Technical Assessment Agreement (ETAG). A CE mark shows the performance of a Construction product with regard to the essential requirements: Mechanical Resistance and Stability Safety in case of Fire Hygiene, Health and the Environment Safety in Use Protection against Noise Energy Economy and Heat Retention Sustainable use of natural resources The responsibility for CE marking of a Curtain wall lies with the specialist contractor but system and component suppliers will need to test their Products .

4 CWCT - Curtain walling and the Construction Products regulations 2/5 EN 13830 product Standard for Curtain walling The current product standard is published as BS EN 13830:2003. This covers fire performance, weathertightness, wind loading, other applied loads, impact and thermal transmittance. A revised product standard is being drafted with the aim to publish late in 2012. This has an extended scope that now includes durability in addition to the performance characteristics described in EN 13830:2003. The underlying test methods for air, water and wind testing remain unchanged.

5 However, the revised product standard contains far more detailed requirements for the other aspects of performance. The main changes to the standard that will impact in the UK are: A requirement to use Eurocodes for calculating loads and structural performance Requirements for testing fire stopping Assessment of U-value Assessment of flanking sound transmission Assessment of radiation properties The revision to EN 13830 is currently available as a working draft. CWCT represent the UK on the drafting committee CEN TC33 WG6.

6 Implementation in the UK market A CE mark must list all of the performance characteristics scheduled in the Harmonised Standard. However, performance levels or classes may be shown or NPD may be used to signify that no performance has been determined. NPD is not allowed for any performance characteristic that is either: mandatory in the harmonised standard required by National regulations A correlation between the performance requirements of the harmonised standard EN 13830 and the Building regulations in different parts of the UK are given in Annex A Performance characteristics always required Considering the Building regulations and product standard EN 13830 classes or levels of performance will always have to be stated for the following performance characteristics.

7 Reaction to fire Fire propagation Resistance to windload (safety) Horizontal live load (Barrier load) Thermal transmittance Radiation properties Durability Performance characteristics sometimes required Considering the Building regulations and product standard EN 13830 classes or levels of performance will sometimes have to be stated for the following performance characteristics. Resistance to fire Resistance to snow load Flanking sound transmission CWCT - Curtain walling and the Construction Products regulations 3/5 Other performance characteristics Considering the Building regulations and product standard EN 13830 classes or levels of performance may not have to be stated for the following performance characteristics.

8 Watertightness Resistance to self-weight Impact resistance Thermal shock resistance Direct air borne sound Air permeability Note that putting No Performance Determined against these performance characteristics may not be a good selling point for a Curtain wall contractor. NPD will not be allowed for some or all of these performance characteristics in all national markets with in the EU and importers may declare classes or values for these characteristics. UK companies that export may have to declare classes or values in other markets and may also do so in the UK.

9 Responsibility for CE marking The performance declared on the CE mark is the performance of the whole wall including framing members, infill, glazing, flashings and closures. Clearly the performance can only be determined by the company that is responsible for design and manufacture of the wall, the specialist contractor. Clearly a company supplying a framing system but not supplying infill panels and glazing cannot determine the reaction to fire, resistance to horizontal load, thermal transmittance, radiation properties or durability of a whole Curtain wall.

10 Implications for specialist contractors Specialist contractors will, in nearly all cases except for fire resistance, be allowed to self attest the performance of a Curtain wall. They will not require ISO 9000 or similar accreditation or supervision from any third party unless they undertake testing in their own test facilities. Specialist contractors will be able to use test results from system and component suppliers when assessing performance of a wall; a process known as cascading initial type testing. Specialist contractors will however be required to operate a factory production control system to control incoming materials and components, equipment, the production process and the product .